Time Warp – Overnight wait worth it for Bruce Springsteen fans

Hundreds of people lined downtown Scranton’s sidewalks, hoping to make it to the Globe Store’s Ticketron counter in time to nab tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert. Some waited overnight to buy the $17.50 tickets for the shows, which took place Aug. 14 and 15 at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia.
The scene along Wyoming Avenue, Spruce Street and Penn Avenue was calm until the department store opened at 10 a.m. People mistook some Globe Store employees as line jumpers. Tempers flared until a Globe Store security guard set the record straight.

Long line stretches in front and away from Globe Store, where tickets were on July 22, 1985 sale for a Bruce Springsteen concert in Philadelphia. Some in line waited all night to be sure of getting their tickets. Times-Tribune Archives

With folding chairs, seat pads and cups of soft drink, these Bruce Springsteen fans were prepared for a long wait on July 22, 1985 as they lined up hours before opening time at The Globe Store to by tickets for Springsteen’s concert in Philadelphia. Times-Tribune Archives

Long line stretches in front and away from Globe Store, where tickets were on July 22, 1985 sale for a Bruce Springsteen concert in Philadelphia. Some in line waited all night to be sure of getting their tickets. Times-Tribune Archives

Long line stretches in front and away from Globe Store, where tickets were on July 22, 1985 sale for a Bruce Springsteen concert in Philadelphia. Some in line waited all night to be sure of getting their tickets. Times-Tribune Archives

By 4 p.m. that day, all tickets for both shows — some 110,000 seats — sold out.
This scene repeated in February 1988, when Springsteen’s fans braved the cold, wind and rain in Scranton to buy tickets for his “Tunnel of Love” concerts in Philadelphia that March.

Brian Fulton has been the librarian at The Times-Tribune for the past 14 years. On his blog, Historically Hip, he writes about the great concerts, plays/musicals and celebrity happenings that have taken place throughout NEPA. He once won a chili cook-off with a kielbasa and three pepper chili, and he competed and was crowned grand champion on an episode of NPR quiz show “Ask Me Another.” Contact: bfulton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9140; or @TTPagesPast

Brian Fulton

Brian Fulton has been the librarian at The Times-Tribune for the past 14 years. On his blog, Historically Hip, he writes about the great concerts, plays/musicals and celebrity happenings that have taken place throughout NEPA. He once won a chili cook-off with a kielbasa and three pepper chili, and he competed and was crowned grand champion on an episode of NPR quiz show "Ask Me Another." Contact: bfulton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9140; or @TTPagesPast